Felissa Rose poses with the actual bra she wore while filming SLEEPAWAY to keep her breasts "flat as a board."
-As a child, writer/director: Robert Hiltzik actually went to the camp which was used in the film.
-SLEEPAWAY CAMP was shot in 5 weeks on a budget of only $350,000!
-The film had been storyboarded BUT after the first day of filming, the movie was already behind schedule...so The storyboards were thrown out and not used.
-When SLEEPAWAY CAMP opened, it was the top grossing film in New York, beating out the premiere of Barbara Streisand's YENTYL. It also KILLED it's horror competition by raking in almost double the gross of AMITYVILLE 3-D!!
-During filming of the scene where the canoe flips over in the lake, John Dunn
cut the top of his hand open against a sharp rock on the lake's bottom. He had
to be rushed to hospital.
-For the climactic final scene, A local college student had to shave his body and stand naked on the waterfront wearing a PLASTER mask of Angela's face (for the long shot). Apparently, the guy had to get pretty PLASTERED himself in order to do the scene. Hey, 'aint nuttin' a few beers can't fix!
-During the scene where the guys go skinny dipping, Loris "Billy" Sallahian walked off the set because he was not very pleased with the conditions. Director, Robert Hiltzik had a personal chat with him and Loris returned to the set.
-Jonathan Tiersten and Felissa Rose had somewhat of a puppy-love romance
while filming.
-When Leslie swims back to shore after the canoe flips, Leslie is actually played
by Robert's Wife, Missy, in that scene. The original "Leslie" got mono and was
sick for that segment of filming.
-Willy Kuskin was being picked on just like his character, Mozart, by one of the SLEEPAWAY Cast. At some points it got so bad that Frank Trent Saladino (who
played Mozart's Counselor Gene) actually stepped in to protect Willy!
-The Hudson Falls police let Allen Breton use one of their actual police uniforms
for the movie. When Allen pulled out his gun to take a look at it (he had quite an
interest in guns) he noticed that it was one of their actual guns and it was
Loaded! Good thing the script didn't call for Frank to shoot anyone!
-Writer/Director Robert Hiltzik wrote the beginning and ending of the SLEEPAWAY story first.
-Ed Bilous, the film's composer, was discovered in a cafe/coffee shop while writing sheet music.
-Robert Hiltzik originally wanted to cast a blonde actress as "Judy" the camp bitch.
-Jonathan Tiersten got the role of Ricky after an interesting audition where Robert asked him to cuss him out.
-The infamous killer hands that are seen in the film actually belong to none other than "Ricky" himself, Jonathan Tiersten. It had been written into Felissa Rose's contract that she would not actually do any of the killings on screen.
-Jonathan Tiersten's name was incorrectly spelt in the opening credits, spelling it Tierston. John Dunn however, correctly gained a middle inital on the video packaging.
-While the family talk about Martha in the water, the shadow of a boom mike's rod is clearly seen on the overturned boat.
-When the speedboat runs over John, the teens inside are dummies. Though one could say the real characters were dummies also.
-When Eddie and the little kids go camping with their flashlights, the light reflection off the camera hits Eddie in the face.
-When you first see Angela at the end sitting and humming, in the distance on the other side of the bleachers look carefully to find someone removing their top. Chances are it's the boy who played "Naked Angela" at the end, getting ready.
-Listen to the lyrics of Angela's Theme over the end credits. You should notice how it relates to Angela, Paul, and The Secret.